


in your hands i leave you

by oogenesis



Category: Rockman X | Mega Man X
Genre: M/M, suicide ideation cw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-09
Updated: 2017-10-09
Packaged: 2019-01-15 04:32:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12313800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oogenesis/pseuds/oogenesis
Summary: Would look ridiculous when someone found the body, though.  Other methods are more efficient, and less embarrassing.Zero holds out the key and says, “I need you to have this.”





	in your hands i leave you

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this awhile ago and left it semi-finished and am really proud of the writing except for the parts that I added just now. sighs

There is a vent conduit in the abdomen that, if pinched shut, would prevent excess heat from escaping, cooking the entire mechanism in its own waste energy. Death within five to thirty minutes, depending on level of activity in the system at the time of shutoff.

Zero turns the key over in his hands.

He is standing outside X’s door.

There is a tank in the thorax that, if punctured, would leak fuel all over its surroundings, setting off tiny explosions in the sparks of the mechanism around it. Death within ten minutes. Five if you made the hole really big.

Zero has the key in his hands and there is a maintenance hatch along his back, another one along his front, that opens up in order to do repairs. He’s opened them before, to do minor repairs on himself. He knows how.

Zero is standing outside X’s door.

Hell, you could just pour water into the vulnerable insides. Flood the works. Death within half an hour, but it could be a lot shorter if you tilted the body so that the water flowed towards the exquisitely delicate processors in the head.

“Zero?” X isn’t wearing his helmet. His hair is soft and rumpled and he picks up on something set and grim in Zero’s face, expression shifting to one of concern. “What’s wrong?”

Although you’d need someone’s help to do that. The tilting thing, that is. Unless you hooked your knees over some elevated object. Like the edge of a desk, or a railing. That could work.

Would look ridiculous when someone found the body, though. Other methods are more efficient, and less embarrassing.

Zero holds out the key and says, “I need you to have this.”

X plucks it out of his fingers. “This is…” He’s held this key before, Zero knows; a pair of pliers clamped in his mouth as his hands rummaged around Zero’s spine, splicing a broken wire back together. “Your maintenance hatch?”

There’s a cable leading from the motor function data banks up the neck to the main processor in the head. Heavily protected by reinforced rubber, but no match for a quick sideways jerk of a knife, if you’re really strong. If you have the strength of someone built to be a weapon. Death almost instantaneous.

Zero says, “I need you to hide it.”

“Hide…” X’s eyes search Zero’s face. “Zero, what’s wrong?”

“I need you,” says Zero, and his hands are shaking, and he hides them behind his back, “to put it somewhere - somewhere only you know where it is. So that -” He takes a breath, lets it out. “So that if I wanted it, I’d have to ask you for it.”

Slowly, X’s face settles into an expression of realization, of understanding. He opens his mouth as though to say something -

Zero places a hand on X’s, folds his fingers shut over the key. “You don’t have to say anything. Just hide it.”

X looks down, looks back up again. “I will.” His hand settles on X’s, clasping it. “I promise.”

There is a wire to be severed and a processor to be slashed through and a hundred different ways; and repairs can be made - Zero knows this better than anyone - but HQ has an ethics committee. No one, not even X - especially not X - would revive a robot that wanted to die.

Zero is putting his life in X's hands and trusts that X will keep it safe, even from himself. "Thank you," he says, and X says "Of course," and after a moment's hesitation adds, "You mean the world to me, you know that?"

\- and that - that's complicated. That's one of the reasons, even, because Zero is dangerous, and to hold close a wild animal is (ha) suicide, but there's a determined kindness in X's eyes and X's fingers wrapped tight around the key and Zero can only bring himself to be grateful.

He says, "Good night," and leaves.

**Author's Note:**

> comments are highly appreciated as usual! i'm really proud of this so yeah


End file.
